Biology Teacher at Bronx Science Is New Principal

By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS

Published: July 13, 2001

The national search for a new principal of the Bronx High School of Science, one of New York City's most prestigious public schools, has ended where it began: at home.

Valerie Reidy, assistant principal for biology, was named principal yesterday, officials said. She is the sixth principal and the first woman to serve in the position since the school was founded in 1938.

Ms. Reidy's appointment comes nine months after the schools chancellor, Harold O. Levy, blocked another homegrown administrator, William J. Stark, from becoming principal of the school. Mr. Levy, a 1970 graduate of the school, said he wanted to recruit someone with a national reputation to head the school, perhaps a Nobel laureate. Mr. Stark, tiring of the chancellor's indecision, took a job in February as principal of Manhasset High School, another academically accomplished school in an affluent part of Long Island.

Mr. Levy was gracious, if a bit formal, about Ms. Reidy's appointment yesterday. ''After a national search we found real gold at home,'' he said through his spokeswoman, Karen Finney. ''I'm very pleased that we have a strong candidate with support within the school. I'm certain that the school will continue its tradition of excellence.''

Among the school's faculty members, most of whom had strongly supported Mr. Stark, there was a sense of relief tinged with regret. ''What a folly the whole thing is,'' one teacher said, speaking on condition of anonymity. ''Because Bill Stark was infinitely better, and they chased this really talented person out.''

Deborah Stepelman, a Bronx Science teacher who is also Mr. Levy's former math teacher, said most teachers were ''elated'' by the appointment and the end of the search. ''She's not as well known as Mr. Stark, but there will be some kind of continuity,'' Ms. Stepelman said.

Although the job was nationally advertised, it appeared to draw very little interest outside of the city. Mr. Levy's spokeswoman, Ms. Finney, said that the position was advertised in two national newspapers and that more than 20 people applied, but as far as she could determine, only one applicant came from outside New York State. Anthony Miserandino, principal of Harrison High School in Westchester and a former principal of Hunter High School in New York City, was the front-runner after Mr. Stark left, but withdrew.

One former Bronx Science principal, Vincent Galasso, who returned as acting principal after Mr. Stark left, said people from out of state might not have applied because Bronx Science is not seen as a steppingstone to higher positions. Only the first principal, Morris Meister, went on to a higher administrative position as president of Bronx Community College, Mr. Galasso said. For the rest, he said, it was a job they did out of commitment to the culture and goals of a place they knew well.

Ms. Reidy said yesterday that she had not yet met the chancellor but looked forward to working with him. ''I think he has some very good ideas,'' she said. ''He cares about this school. It is his alma mater. I welcome his suggestions.''

Ms. Reidy said she hoped to concentrate on replacing the large cadre of retiring teachers at Bronx Science with top-notch new ones. She said she wanted to build a teacher-training program that might also train teachers from other schools.

Ms. Reidy, 52, grew up in the Morris Park neighborhood of the Bronx. She received her bachelor's degree from the College of Mount St. Vincent in Riverdale and a fellowship to the Roswell Park Cancer Research Institute in Buffalo. She received her master's degree at Fordham University. She taught science at Junior High School 117 in the Bronx from 1974 to 1978, then began working at Bronx Science, where she has taught biology ever since. She has two teenage sons and lives in Westchester County.

Two other principals of Bronx Science have come out of its biology department -- Milton Kopelman, who was principal when Ms. Reidy was hired as a teacher, and Mr. Galasso, who hired her.

''At least in some circles, the biology department is considered to be the strongest within the school,'' said A. Edward Major, co-president of the school's Parents Association.

Mr. Levy's intervention in the principal search caused an uproar among many of the school's teachers, students and alumni, who favored Mr. Stark. They argued that what Bronx Science needed at the helm was not a famous name or a brilliant scientist but someone who could deal with union officials, custodians and 2,700 teenagers.

Mr. Stark, who was a social studies teacher and administrator, was the unanimous choice of a search committee last fall and had been appointed interim principal. Convinced that he would not be given the permanent appointment, he submitted his resignation in February. Two hours later, he received a faxed letter from the Bronx High School superintendent offering him the job, but he had already taken the job on Long Island.

Photo: Valerie Reidy, formerly the assistant principal for biology, is the first woman to be appointed principal of the Bronx High School of Science, which was founded in 1938. (Chris Maynard for The New York Times)